Journey to the Past
by Amaya-Mizuki
Summary: After a tragic event that took place 10 yrs ago, Zuko is the sole surviving heir to the fire nation throne but doesn't remember anything. Aang and the gang are searching for the lost fire nation prince and they come upon Zuko...[ZUTARA][Taang][SokkaXSuki]
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**A/N: This story kinda combines some of the plot ideas of "Anastasia" with the Avatar world and characters, etc. If you haven't seen that movie, I advise you to see it; it's very good. But you don't need to have seen it to understand/read this fanfic, so don't feel like you can't read it if you haven't seen the movie. Just try it. I put a lot of hard work into it and I really like it and it's something different from the typical zutara fanfic's. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Disney's Anastasia. I just based my story off of them. So sue me.**

-Iroh-

I remember a time, not long ago, around ten years ago perhaps, when the four nations flourished and lived together as one. There was no controversy based on the elements and everyone treated each other as brother and sister. It was a golden age for the entire world.

Since the nations worked closely together in harmony, it was only natural that members from the other nations' royal families attended major events that were held in each of the different nations.

On this particular day, the event was taking place in the Fire Nation capital, Agni, which was a beautiful and prosperous city—at the time.

We were celebrating the 100th year of the Sozan bloodline's reign of our nation, as well as what should have been the crowning of me, Iroh, as the next Fire Lord.

The party started out wonderfully, with lots of socializing, dancing, the occasional romancing, and plenty of excellent tea. The newly appointed Earth King was there with his pet bear, Bosco; the head monk Kyotso was their representing the Northern, Eastern, and Southern Air Nomad Temples alike; the Northern Water Tribe's chief was there with his wife and his six-year old daughter, Yue, who strangely had beautiful, snow-white hair. Lastly, there was a well-respected family from the Southern Water Tribe, since they did not have an established chief or royal family in their tribe. The family consisted of a man named Hakoda; his wife, Kya; their six-year old son, named Sokka; and their five-year old daughter, Katara.

Although the Southern Water Tribe family was there to represent their tribe, they were looked down upon by most of the other royals and noblemen because of their lack of royal blood-line. It was a shame, really, especially since they were extremely good-hearted people and the man, Hakoda, had a great sense of humor.

And finally, of course there was the Fire Nation royal family. The Fire Nation royal family consisted of: my father, Azulon, who was extremely old at the time; me, his oldest son and therefore the rightful heir to the throne; my only son, Lu Ten; my younger brother, Ozai; Ozai's wife, Ursa; their oldest son, Prince Zuko, who was 7 at the time; and their youngest daughter, Azula, who was 6 at the time.

That day, my nephew Zuko seemed to be shining especially bright. And although he was my nephew and not my son, I always loved him as if he were my own. Indeed, I often felt sorry for him, since my brother never seemed to give Zuko the approval and attention that my nephew so desperately craved and deserved. Zuko and I shared a special bond, and that day I gave him a very special gift so that he might be able to retain hope, even in the direst situations.

_-flashback-_

_Iroh watched Zuko out of the corner of his eye as the young prince tried fruitlessly to conceal his obvious stares at the beautiful, young water tribe girl, Katara. He seemed to be watching he intently while her mother gave her a beautiful necklace that had once been **her** mother's engagement necklace. A wide grin spread across Iroh's face as Zuko strained his neck farther to get a better look at the girl._

'_My, my…It seems my nephew has quite the crush on the water-tribe girl,' he thought happily, 'Perhaps I can arrange a marriage between them somehow…'_

_Iroh watched his nephew for a few more minutes while pondering how he could possibly get this marriage idea of his to work. After a few more moments of pondering, Iroh finally beckoned Zuko to come to him. Zuko regretfully stole one last fleeting glance towards the girl before hurrying to his uncle._

"_You summoned me Uncle?"_

"_Yes Prince Zuko. I have something I want to give to you," Iroh said._

_He rummaged in the bag beside him, pulling out many different kinds of tea leaves until he finally found what he was searching for. He pulled out a small dagger inside a sheathe and handed it to his nephew. Zuko unsheathed the pearl dagger and read the inscription on the blade, "Never give up without a fight…" he mumbled._

"_I got it at the Earth Kingdom capital while I was visiting and I had it custom made," Iroh said happily._

_Zuko sheathed it once again and smiled eagerly, "Thank you Uncle," he said while bowing before wrapping his arms around Iroh's neck and pulling him into a tight hug._

"_Wield it well, Prince Zuko," Iroh said after they'd broken apart._

"_I won't disappoint you Uncle!" Zuko said eagerly while running of to practice._

_Iroh smiled slightly to himself._

_-end flashback-_

But our happiness did not last long, for soon enough my brother, Ozai, who had long been absent from the party, stepped forward with his daughter, Azula, at his side along with a good handful of loyal soldiers and servants trailing behind him. Now, my brother and I have been rivals for a very long time, ever since we were children, in fact; however, it seems that Ozai still harbored those feelings even in adulthood. My brother has always been the jealous, greedy, ambitious type, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He is cold-hearted and cares nothing for anyone but himself. This being said, his daughter was the spinning image of him, while Zuko was blessed with his mother's heart and compassion.

So, knowing this information, I guess you could say it wasn't exactly surprising that Ozai attacked and killed tons of innocent people that night, the majority of which were a part of his own family. And all just to claim the throne. But you could also say that his timing definitely caught us off guard. Many lives were lost and everyone was forced to flee for their lives. There were parents shouting and children crying and people running every which way. At some point, part of the castle caught on fire, which only added to the pandemonium.

Zuko and I had gotten split-up from Ursa and Lu Ten and we were trying to find an exit to safety. We might have made it too, if Zuko hadn't suddenly remembered the dagger that was still in his room and hadn't turned back to get it.

I followed him anxiously, more concerned for his life than my own. He retrieved the dagger, but just then we heard the voices of the soldiers outside the door, searching for us. We were trapped.

I thought we were doomed for sure. That was, at least until the same young water tribe girl that Zuko had been staring at earlier moved aside part of wall and led us out through a side exit in the servants' quarters (A/N: Katara and her family were given the servants' quarters to stay in b/c they weren't looked upon as equals by most of the royals of the other nations). We followed her, Hakoda, and Sokka as they led us safely out of the castle while the young girl's mother stayed behind to guard the soldiers off with her water-bending skills.

After we had made it out of the palace, me and my nephew eventually became separated from the water tribe family.

We were just running underneath a bridge when my brother, Ozai, jumped in front of us, determined to kill us both. He shot a strong blast of fire at Zuko, a blast that would've killed him if I hadn't been able to redirect part of the blow. Still, Zuko got hit with the main force of the blast and was thrown backwards, the blast burning part of his face and singeing some of his hair and one of his eyebrows. I knew then that he would be left with a huge scar for the rest of his life.

We probably would've both died then and there if Avatar Roku hadn't stepped into the scene. He used the powers of the Avatar state as an attempt to kill Ozai. Luckily, he succeeded too, but not before my brother was able to muster the last of his strength to send a blue shot of lightning right at Roku's heart, killing him almost instantly. And because Roku was in the Avatar state at the time of his death, the Avatar Cycle ended, thus making Avatar Roku the last Avatar to ever live.

But Zuko and I did not have any time to mourn his death, for Ozai's soldiers and Azula were still on the rampage. We headed towards a train that had already started to leave the station. We didn't care where it was going, as long as it got us faraway from the Fire Nation Capital.

I was able to successfully jump onto the back of the train, but Zuko simply couldn't catch up. I tried to reach his hand to pull him up, but the train was gathering speed and I couldn't quite reach. Finally, I somehow managed to clasp onto his hand. I had almost pulled him all the way on board when the train jolted and his hand slipped from my grasp. Zuko fell backwards, hitting his head off the ground, knocking him unconscious. There was nothing I could do now. The train was now traveling too fast for me to jump off and retrieve him. I had no choice but to watch as my unconscious nephew slowly faded away into the distance.

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Many lives were destroyed that night. My son, Lu Ten, and Zuko's mother, Ursa, were both killed by Ozai himself while countless others suffered the same fate. Water, Earth, Air and Fire Nations alike all suffered a great number of losses. Azula disappeared and we could only assume that she had been killed in the battle as well. And Zuko. My dear nephew…I knew that I was destined to never see him again.


	2. Her Circumstances

_**Journey to the Past**_

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own ATLA or Disney's Anastasia. I just don't, okay?**

**A/N: The ages in this fanfic are as follows:**

**Zuko-17**

**Katara-15**

**Sokka-16**

**Aang-12**

**Azula-16**

**Mai-16**

**Ty Lee-15**

**(The following characters will not show up until much later in the story)**

**Yue-16**

**Suki-15**

**Toph-12**

**Iroh- old**

**Ozai-dead (lol)**

**(very important!)A/N: In this story, Aang is not the Avatar, he is just a very powerful Airbender. It's a Zuko-centric fic so, I thought it would've taken away to the story if Aang had to go save the world and be the Avatar and crap. So, in this story, he's not the Avatar. Also, the Air Nomads are NOT extinct in this story. So Aang's not so unique anymore either.**

**A/N: One last thing, in this next chapter and for a few chapters to come, Katara, Sokka, Aang and Momo are in the Fire Nation, at the Fire Nation capital, Agni. Appa is not with them at the moment, he is staying at the South Pole for a bit with Kanna. Flying bison are more common in this fic, but they are still big and would attract attention and the group is trying to avoid that at the moment. Once you read the chapter it will all make more sense.**

**Chapter 1: Her Circumstances**

_**-10 years later-**_

-Katara-

Katara shivered in spite of the extremely hot weather. Even after so many years of rebuilding and reviving the Fire Nation Capital, Agni, (named for the sun spirit that granted fire benders their powers), this place _still_ gave her the creeps. It was still dank and depressing and well…run-down, to say the least. It was a sketchy place, filled with fire nation thugs that leered at her lustfully from the shadows of the alleyways as she passed them. Instinctively Katara moved in between Sokka and Aang, grateful to have them with her at the moment.

"Sokka, can we just hurry up and get to the old palace already? I don't like the feeling of this place," Katara said anxiously as another dirty old thug passed them while looking her up and down lustfully, yet _again_.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," her brother replied while glaring at the man threateningly until the thug finally got the message and backed off.

Katara nodded gratefully while instinctively moving a bit closer to Aang for protection. Aang was a 12-year old Air nomad monk. He was very playful and childish, but he was still a very powerful Airbender and an extremely reliable friend.

Katara glanced at her airbending friend from the corner of her eye while thinking back to how she and Sokka had met Aang in the first place.

After the incident at the fire nation party approximately ten years ago, Katara, Sokka, and their father had returned home to the South Pole and had continued to live with Katara's grandmother, Kanna, better known as 'Gran-Gran.'

However, most unfortunately, Katara's mother, Kya, had not returned home with them. They had lost her at the incident in the fire nation, when she was killed by one of Ozai's soldiers, no doubt.

Upon arriving home in the South Pole, Hakoda and the other men in their tribe had to leave almost immediately in order to help stop Ozai's rebel groups, which were still on the rampage even now, ten years after Ozai's death.

The next few years were nothing but intense training. Well, for Sokka at least. He had been trained into a strong water tribe warrior. Katara, on the other hand, had not been able to train. All the men waterbenders had gone off to fight along with the rest of the water tribe warriors. Katara's mother, Kya, had been a waterbender, but had, of course, died ten years ago. The only other waterbender in the South Pole besides Katara was Katara's grandmother, Kanna. Unfortunately, Kanna only knew how to heal with waterbending, not how to fight. So, instead, Katara had learned how to heal with waterbending, had acquired some decent hand-to-hand combat skills when training with her brother, and had tried to teach herself some waterbending as best as she could. She hated feeling so weak and she desperately wished she could go to the North Pole to train, but that was completely out of the question since traveling was dangerous these days, and getting from one end of the world to the other was especially hard.

One day, Katara and Sokka had found Aang unconscious, washed up on the shores of the South Pole along with his flying bison, Appa, and his pet lemur-creature, Momo. Apparently, he'd been flying through a violent storm on his way to the fire nation and was lucky enough to get washed up on the South Pole.

Katara and Sokka had taken him back to the village and put him under Kanna's care, since her healing abilities were still much more advanced then Katara's.

When Aang regained his strength, he, Katara, and Sokka became fast friends. He told them that he'd been traveling the world, looking for a bit of adventure, when he heard some rumors circulating that the 'young lost Fire prince,' "Prince Zuko," had survived the tragic occurrence that took place ten years ago and was alive somewhere. Apparently, his uncle, "Iroh," who was currently residing in Ba Sing Se, was looking for him, and was giving out a hefty sum of money to whoever could reunite him with his beloved uncle.

According to Aang, the return of a Fire Nation heir could mean the end of the ten year rebellion and could also mean that peace would reign once again in the fire nation. And since Aang had been craving adventure, he decided to take on a search for the 'lost fire nation prince,' which was the reason he had been on his way to the Fire Nation in the first place.

When Aang had finally finished his story, he had successfully caught the interest of both of the Southern Water Tribe siblings. Katara was interested because she secretly dreamed of a time of peace reigning once again, and she longed for her father and the others to come back home. Sokka, on the other hand, could care less about the "stupid fire nation prince" (as he had so kindly put it); he just wanted the money.

And so, Kanna had urged them to join Aang, knowing that their skills would never be able to be put to use if they stayed. A few days later, they were off.

But now they'd nearly been there for a month, and so far they'd had no luck finding the fire nation prince. Soon, their ship would be leaving and they would be forced to return to the South Pole, whether they had the prince or not.

Presently, Katara, Sokka, and Aang were on their way to the old Fire Nation Palace, where they held auditions to see if anyone matched or came close to the lost prince's description. Katara and Aang tried to look for the _real_ fire nation prince; Sokka tried to find somebody they could teach to convincingly act like the fire nation prince. So far, none of them had any luck in either scenario.

At this point the trio had finally made it to the old palace. As they entered the ancient building, Katara noted with some dismay that it was in very poor condition. Chairs were over-turned and much more of the furniture was charred black, while masses of cobwebs and a thick layer of dust now lay on top of the party decorations that were still up from ten years ago.

The group silently made their way to the grand hall where all the dancing and the main part of the party had taken place. Ten years ago, it had been clean, warm, sparkling, and magnificently breathtaking. Now, however, it was only an eerie shadow of what it once was. Katara shuddered as she thought of the possibility that strange ghosts and vengeful spirits of all the people that had been slaughtered that terrible night might still be there, dancing a haunting dance of death and watching the group from the shadows of the stately palace.

As Aang and Sokka quickly set up and dusted off a long table, Katara quickly started unpacking a bunch of scrolls of rice paper along with 3 brushes and a container of ink. She then proceeded to place these on top of the table that Aang and her brother had set up.

As they settled themselves in, they called in the first 'contestant' to interview. Katara bent her head down over her scroll as she carefully wrote down the contestant's name, preparing herself to take notes on him. But when she glanced up to get a good look at him, she was appalled to see an extremely old man of at least eighty or ninety years old standing before them, clearly out of the age range of a young fire nation prince.

"I am the rightful heir to the Fire Nation throne, I am the long-lost Prince Zuko!" the old man wheezed.

Sokka smacked himself in the face while Aang just stared at the old man, his mouth wide-open in shock. Katara shook her head in disgust and crossed his name off the list. 'This is going to take a while…' she thought dully.

**A/N: And so ends Chapter 1 of ****Journey to the Past.**** I hope you liked it and I PROMISE that it gets waaayyyyyy more interesting as it goes along. I have so much in store for all of the characters and I really like the ideas I have for this story so far, so please, PLEASE review so I know if anyone else reads my story and likes it and wants me to continue. Okay buh-byez now!**

**P.S. if anyone is confused about anything that happens in the story, please review and tell me and I will try to explain it better. k? k. now, Review!**


	3. His Circumstances

_**Journey to the Past**_

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own anything. Get it. Got it. Good.**

**A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers for reviewing!**

**Kiella- thanks!**

**IdontKnow- thank you**

**Lady Charity- I'm glad you like it. I mention how Ozai dies in the prologue. Basically, Avatar Roku kills him, but at the same time, Ozai kills Roku. And he kills him in the Avatar State which is the reason why the Avatar cycle is ended. And no worries, I'm basing this very loosely on the movie. This next chapter is pretty similar to the movie but there wasn't that much I could do to make it different so it's really not bad.**

**heartsyhawk- Woah, that's so weird! I could've sworn it was Disney! Anyways, thanks for telling me that and yeah, I know Katara is 14, but I just thought it would be better if I made her 14 for this. I didn't know Azula was 14 though. I probably would've guessed 15. Yeah, but I pretty much know the characters' ages, I just tweaked them a little bit. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

**KateIsOn- Yeah, I'm gonna put in some kind of a train scene in later, but I'm not exactly going in order with when I do the scenes and stuff all the time. It'll still be interesting, but my goal for now is to try to parallel the movie to the Avatar the world and kinda keep a balance b/w the two. And I'm not gonna make it exactly like the movie either. It'll have plenty of new twists so keep your eyes open everyone!**

**teenfox- I love the movie too! It's one of the reasons I'm basing this fanfic on it(of course!)**

**eh.sure.whatever.- The movie is great, but like I said before, you don't have to have seen it to read this. And don't worry, I'm trying my best not to make the characters OOC as best as I can. And actually, I was thinking about doing something with cactus juice…but that's all I can say on that for now!**

**toonfan820- I'm glad to hear it! That was what I was going for too, you know, balancing the Anastasia story with the Avatar world. Good to hear I'm doing well so far!**

**Chapter 2: His Circumstances**

-Zuko-

_Meanwhile…_

"When you get to the fork in the road, go left, it will take you down to the bird-fish factory. I already got you a job there—" The orphanage keeper stopped and turned around to see Zuko standing behind her, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to what she had been saying.

"Are you listening to me?!" she shouted as she grabbed his face and pulled it so close to his that he could've counted every single wrinkle on her face (although it would've taken him awhile).

"Yeah, yeah. Left at the fork in the road, I got it," Zuko said carelessly.

The orphanage keeper backed off and placed her hands on her hips.

"Hmph!" she grunted, "How is it that you can't remember anything about your past or who you were before you came here, yet you can completely tune me out and still remember what I said?!" she asked him incredulously.

"But on the back of my knife, the one I was found with, it said it was made in Ba Sing Se. So, if I go there, then maybe I can find out who I am and who gave me the knife," Zuko explained, almost pleadingly. 'And maybe then I can find out how I got this scar,' he thought darkly.

The orphanage lady started to cackle and snort at this, "You?!" she laughed incredulously, "Go to Ba Sing Se?! Surely you must be joking! You're just a filthy no-account! You can't even remember your own name let alone your family, how do you expect to find them in a city that big! And you really think I'd just _give _you the money to get there after all the trouble you caused me? You're lucky I even kept you here, especially after all those years of torture you put me through!"

Zuko's temper flared at this, "I'm not a filthy no-account! I have a past, I know I do! Don't you dare ever speak to me like that again!" he ordered.

The orphanage owner stopped laughing to glare at him instead, "Oh, my apologies, _Prince_ Zuko," she snickered while pushing him out the iron gates and locking them behind him.

A round of laughter was heard at her statement. Zuko turned around only to see the other children of the orphanage laughing and jeering at him. Calling him things like 'your majesty' and bowing down to him in a taunting manner. Zuko cringed as he turned away and started to make his way down the road as the sounds of their laughter and their taunts slowly got farther and farther away.

Agni, how he hated it when they did that to him! When he'd first been brought to the orphanage, he hadn't been able to remember anything about his past. Not even his own name. But when the other kids teased him about acting like he was all high-and-mighty, he quickly earned the name Prince Zuko, much to his displeasure. Soon enough, it had _become_ his name. After all, it wasn't like he had anything else to go by.

Zuko sighed and pushed his black locks out of his eyes. He had reached the fork in the road. He looked at the sign pointing to the left. It read "bird-fish factory 2 miles." His gaze shifted from the sign on the left to the sign on his right. This one said, "Agni, Fire Nation Capital, 10 miles."

Zuko stopped walking and pulled his dagger out of his pocket. It was the only clue he had to his past. Well, that and his scar.

Zuko groaned as his dark locks got into his eyes, yet again and he fervently pushed his bangs back. When he'd been found, he'd been around seven years old and he had been wondering around without a clue to who he was. Back then, he still had a topknot on his head, but they had cut it off almost as soon as he'd arrived at the orphanage. They said it wasn't right for a boy to have a ponytail. Zuko didn't really want it cut off, for he felt like he was just distancing himself from his past even more, but he'd finally allowed them to cut it off when he realized how much he was being teased because of it.

Now, however, he though he'd probably rather have his ponytail back than this annoying hair cut. No matter what he did, it always got in his eyes. At least with a topknot he would've been able to pull his hair back to keep it from getting in his face. But with this haircut, Zuko would push his bangs back only to have them back in his eyes a few seconds later. How annoying.

Zuko groaned and collapsed on the ground, leaning against the sign post while clutching his head in frustration. He didn't know what to do. He knew that his whole life depended on what path he took, so instead of making an impulsive decision like he normally did, he was carefully weighing out his options in front of him.

'If I go left, I'll live a boring and mundane life. And the chances are that I'll probably never find out who I really am,' Zuko thought, 'but if I go right…'

Zuko took out his dagger and unsheathed it, looking at its description for the millionth time.

'If I go right, there may be even the slightest possibility that I may be able to discover who I am. Who knows, maybe I'll even make it all the way to Ba Sing Se."

Zuko sheathed his dagger and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"That's crazy," he muttered under his breath, "I'm just a nobody. A worthless orphan. A nameless no-account. Just like she said."

Zuko almost started to walk down the path that lead to the bird-fishery when something in his gut stopped him.

"If I go there, I'll be a nameless orphan forever, but if I go this way…" Zuko turned to face the path leading to Agni, "if I go this way, I might be able to at least find myself a better life, even if I don't find out who I am."

So, having made his decision, Zuko turned down the right path and began to take the ten mile walk to the Fire Nation capital, Agni.

**A/N: In case you didn't catch it in the prologue, Zuko's father is the one that gives him the scar whenever he's trying to kill Zuko and Iroh (before Avatar Roku steps in and saves them). I hope that clears that up a bit. Also, in case anyone's confused about Zuko's name, basically the orphanage kids made fun of him b/c he acted like he was so much better than everyone, so they started to call him 'Prince Zuko.' It's almost like saying 'you think you're a prince' or 'you act like a spoiled prince.' So they use it in offensive terms. The thing is, Zuko can't remember his name so now he has to go by the name Zuko b/c he really doesn't have anything else to go by and the name has kinda stuck with him thanks to the orphanage kids.**

**A/N 2: About the hair thing, in this story, only the fire nation royalty had topknots, which is why it was weird for Zuko to have long hair at the orphanage. They didn't realize he was royalty b/c they just didn't think about it. I mean, why would some royal kid be wondering around ten miles away from the capital? So they just basically never even considered it.**

**Review please!**


	4. Once Upon a December

_**Journey to the Past**_

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or Fox 20****th**** Century's Anastasia for that matter. But I do own the DVD's. And you're not allowed to have them. They're MINE!**

**A/N: To all my reviewers, Thank You!!**

**KateIsOn- I'm glad I explain it all well. I was a little worried about that I'll admit.**

**IdontKnow- Thank you!**

**dancingcinnaminrolls- Thanks! Yeah, I was really surprised too. Anastasia just has that Disney look.**

**Cole Alvina- Yeah, I was trying to think of what Zuko would have in place of the necklace and music box, and I thought the knife Iroh gave him would be perfect. And I thought that Zuko is so pessimistic that that's what he would be thinking about his hair, so I just added it in. Yes, Momo **_**is**_** with Aang, I just haven't mentioned him yet. As for how Zuko is going to run into the GAang…well, you're just gonna have to wait for the next chapter, b/c in this chapter we're back with Katara, Aang, and Sokka. Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you enjoy the story!**

**Chapter 3: Once Upon a December**

Katara groaned and rested her head in her arms as soon as the last person they'd interviewed finally left.

"That was a disaster," she muttered, "a total disaster. We didn't even find someone _remotely_ close to the fire nation prince."

"C'mon Katara, don't give up yet," Sokka urged, "It's only been a few days. And besides, just think of all that money we'll get when his uncle thinks that we've brought him the real fire nation prince! Don't forget, we're the 'GAang' and we can do anything!"

"A few days?!" Katara shrieked at him, jumping out of her chair and losing control, "It hasn't been just _a few days_!! We've been in this stinking city for almost a month now!!!"

"Katara, calm down," Aang said. Katara quieted, but not before shooting Sokka a rather venomous glare.

Aang continued, "But she's right Sokka, what if the fire nation prince isn't even still in the fire nation, let alone still in this city? It's been ten years, he could be anywhere in the world by now. Plus, we only have a few more days to find him. After all, our boat back to the Southern Water Tribe leaves tomorrow and we haven't even found anyone enough like the prince to be able to teach them how to act like the real prince."

"Well…uh, there was that one guy that was the right age and everything and I thought he did a pretty good impersonation of the fire nation prince," Sokka said desperately, unwilling to give up.

"Sokka, that wasn't a guy, that was a _girl. _And I really think that the fire _prince's_ uncle might notice if his so-called 'nephew' was a cross-dresser," Katara said flatly.

"That was a girl?" Aang asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, didn't you notice the abundance of growth in the chest area?" Sokka asked him.

Aang's face turned bright red with embarrassment, "Oh…that explains it…" he said meekly.

Katara just shook her head in disgust at her brother's immaturity and his desperation to get the money. Man, that guy just knew how to push all of her wrong buttons!

Unable to spend another second around her 'dear' brother, Katara excused herself and began to take a casual stroll around the huge fire nation palace.

As she walked around the once-grand palace, images of the party she'd attended ten years ago flashed through her head, along with memories of the lost fire nation prince and her long-gone mother.

Katara sighed as she idly examined a beautiful that held a couple of dead, rotting flowers inside of it. Her memories of the party that had taken place here ten years ago were not pleasant ones. Indeed, how could they be when it was at that very party that she had lost her mother?

Katara remembered how she, her father and Sokka had returned to the palace right before departing for the South Pole, along with the thousands of others that had lost their loved ones at the deadly party.(A/N: this is the reason there aren't any dead rotting corpses there, people came and buried them or cleaned them up and whatever)

Her mother hadn't found them yet, and she and her family didn't know if her mother was just lost and looking for them, or if she had died at the palace. They returned to the palace to find out.

When they'd arrived at the palace, they found it to be filled with people mourning the loss of their loved ones. Katara and her family found Kya, her mother, in the same room they had left her in. Except now she had scorch marks, and she was lying on the floor, dead.

At the sight of her dead mother, Katara had burst into tears. Small as she was, Katara still understood that her mother was gone and that she was never coming back. Ever.

Memories of her mother reminded Katara of the lost fire nation prince, whom her mother had died protecting.

Not all of her memories of the prince were bad. No, actually, the majority of them were quite good. Before the incident, Katara had been enjoying the party and she had even received her mother's necklace. It wasn't long after her mother had given her the necklace when the fire nation prince's uncle—Iroh was his name—had come over to where she and her mother were standing with his nephew in tow. That was when she first met the prince.

_-flashback-_

_I stood there admiring the necklace my mother had just given me when the soon-to-be Fire Lord approached us with his nephew, the Fire Nation Prince—Prince Zuko—trailing behind him. My mother and I bowed respectfully, but Prince Iroh waved his hand and informed us that it wasn't necessary._

_He then proceeded to introduce me to his nephew. My breath hitched in my throat slightly as I curtsied. I had seen the prince before and had thought he was rather good-looking, but I didn't know exactly how good looking he was until I got this close to him._

_He had intense golden eyes and long jet black hair that was currently pulled up into a topknot. His dark hair complemented his creamy pale skin nicely and I noticed that he had a very faint tinge of pink painted on his cheeks when his uncle introduced us. I too, felt my cheeks grow a little warm._

_Then his uncle suggested that we dance and I suddenly got the butterflies in my stomach. He held out his hand and I shyly accepted it as he led me onto the dance floor._

_We danced and we laughed and we talked and he twirled me around until I was almost too-dizzy to stand. When it was finally time for us to return to our families so the crowning ceremony could begin, I gave him a light kiss on the cheek before dashing off to join my family. As I looked back, the startled look on his face was so cute._

_-end flashback-_

'At the time, I didn't know what was going on or why I felt so jittery around him. Looking back on it now, I know why. I had a crush on him. My first crush was on the now lost Fire Nation Prince. How strange is that?' Katara thought to herself.

Katara hadn't been paying attention to where she'd been going and she found that her feet had taken to her all the way to a strangely familiar corridor. As she walked down the eerie hallway, the thought of ghosts popped up in her mind, yet again, so she began to sing a lullaby that her mother and her grandmother used to sing her to sleep with when she was younger.

"_Dancing bears,_

_painted wings,_

_things I almost remember,_

_and a song,_

_someone sings,_

_Once upon a December."_

As Katara walked down the hallway, she imagined that the hallway looked as it had ten years ago, all clean and bright and beautiful.

"_Someone holds me safe and warm,_

_horses prance through a silver storm,_

_figures dancing gracefully,_

_across my memory."_

Katara stopped in front of a door, feeling oddly drawn to it. 'Could this be the room?' she wondered. Slowly, Katara pulled on the handle and entered.

"_Faraway,_

_Long ago—"_

Katara looked around the room cautiously. She walked around while carefully examining the different trinkets in the room.

"—_Glowing dim,_

_as an ember—"_

Katara gasped softly as realization hit her. Her intuition had been right. This _was_ the room.

"_Things my heart,_

_used to know,_

_things it yearns_

_to remember—"_

This was the nursery. In other words, Prince Zuko's room—the same exact place her mother died.

"_And a song,_

_someone sings—"_

Katara paused in the middle of her song for a moment, almost certain she'd heard something or someone moving in the room next to hers. When she listened for a moment and heard nothing, she simply shrugged it off as a trick of her imagination and continued singing, softer this time.

"_Once upon a December…"_

Just as Katara finished her song beautifully, one of the walls separating the nursery from the servants' quarters collapsed as something or someone came barreling through the wall. Katara screamed and jumped back in surprise. She then began to cough uncontrollably as a mixture of dust and dirt suddenly clouded her mouth and nose, suffocating her slightly.

"What the—" she coughed out as she watched the strange figure apprehensively.

When the dust cloud finally dispersed, Katara gasped as she finally got a better look at the figure.

"No way…" she whispered.

**A/N: Mwah Ha Ha! Cliffy!! Hee hee, I'm so evil!!! Anyways please review and tell me what you thought of the chapter! The more reviews I get, the more I'll want to update sooner!! Sorry if I made Katara a little OCC by having her sing, but at least she's not dancing around for no reason or something. It's not like musical singing, she was just singing to comfort herself 'cuz the palace was freaking her out a bit. Okay so yeah, push the review button!!!**


	5. Journey to the Fire Nation Capital

_**Journey to the Past**_

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own anything. I don't even own my own house. (my parents do)**

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing everyone! Sorry I took so long updating. School got really hard at the end there and I had finals to worry about so it took me awhile to get around to typing this. But I'm on summer vacation now, so expect more frequent updates! Yay!**

**IdontKnow: ****Sorry I didn't update sooner…I hope you didn't cry! lol Anyways, enjoy the next chapter!**

**Kiella: ****You'll find out by the end of this chapter! Sorry for the long wait!**

**toonfan820:**** You'll know for sure by the end of this chapter! I agree, those two would look adorable dancing at that age! lol**

**anon: ****lol. sorry for the long wait and thanx for reviewing!**

**Cole Alvina:**** I'm so honored you like my story so much! It makes me so happy when people review! Yeah, I couldn't really imagine Zuko singing Once Upon a December…so I made Katara sing it. I can just imagine Zuko singing. –snickers-**

**Mizz.Smilez.:**** You have to wait and see! And yeah, it's the song from the movie…I thought it'd be a nice touch if I incorporated one of them.**

**random person: ****Wow, three reviews! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so much, and I apologize a thousand times for the extremely long wait. Blame school. I sincerely hope you enjoy this next chapter! (and no, for the record, I am not dead I think and I am definitely NOT discontinuing this story, so no worries! lol)**

**Chapter 4: Journey to the Fire Nation Capital, Agni**

-Zuko-

As Zuko headed down the road to the capital, Agni, he vaguely noticed that the orphanage was apparently on top of a mountain. After the first mile or so of walking, the path had started to dip down. As he continued forward, the path had continued to dip so that Zuko was currently making a pretty steep descent downthe side of the mountain.

Another change in the environment was the temperature. When he had started out at the orphanage, the temperature had been cold. There had even been a thick layer of snow on the ground. But as soon as the path had started to slope, the climate had grown increasingly warmer. So much so that, by this point on his descent down the mountain, all of the snow had melted and he had even began to sweat from all the humidity in the air.

When he finally reached the bottom of the mountain, the forest ended and before him stood a large grassy plain that sprawled out all the way to the edge of the capital, which he could vaguely make out from where he was standing at the base of the mountain. He stretched his limbs and took a short break before swiftly making his way to the Fire Nation capital.

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"Damn it!" Zuko muttered to himself as the last ticket-seller slammed the door shut on his face as well. He never even thought of the possible issues of travel papers, passports, and money for tickets. How in the world was he supposed to get to Ba Sing Se now?

Zuko wondered around town for most of the afternoon. When dinnertime arrived, Zuko was feeling pretty hungry having not eaten anything that day. So he successfully and discreetly stole a loaf of bread and an apple from the nearest food vendor.

As he was strolling casually through the streets, browsing all the goods the merchants in the capital had to offer, he stumbled across one stand in particular. The stand had a pair of twin broadswords and a strange, but well-crafted blue mask on it (as well as several other unique objects). He gazed at the mask for awhile, entranced by its amazing craftsmanship and odd features. He reminisced with a small smile all the memories of the numerous times he had snuck into the orphanage owner's study late at night and had taken the broadswords that hung above the fireplace. He remembered how he had then gone outside to practice with them and how he was always sure to return them before morning (and before getting caught).

It seemed he was a natural at it and he had only improved since then, so that now he was practically a skilled master. A few times he had subconsciously wondered if maybe he had known how to use broadswords even _before _he lost his memory, but each time he dismissed the thought quickly. The only ones that were usually taught to handle weapons and fight were upperclassmen and royalty, and Zuko was just a lowly orphan.

Coming to a quick decision, Zuko hastily glanced around to make sure no one was watching before taking the broadswords and quickly dashing off. Then, almost as a second thought, he stopped and rushed back to the vendor and grabbed the blue mask before he scurried away once again. He hurriedly stuffed the swords and mask into his beat-up sack that only had one extra change of clothes in it.

When he finally came to a stop, he kneeled over while resting his hands on his legs for support. As he stood there, panting and trying to catch his breath, he looked up and finally noticed the enormous building in front of him. He had stumbled upon the old Fire Nation Palace.

Zuko stood in front of the majestic building in complete awe, his breath catching in his throat. Sure, it was old and rotting and falling apart, but it was still the stateliest building Zuko had ever laid eyes on in his entire life (or at least what he remembered of it).

Zuko approached the old palace silently and slowly. He hardly even dared to breathe. He was not quite sure why he was so entranced by the run-down building, but he was.

He was all the way to the doors now, which had been boarded off, but he was able to get a peek at the palace through the tiny cracks. Suddenly he heard a strange noise near him. He jumped and immediately spun around, glancing in every direction for the source of the sound. When he could find none, he turned back around to continue looking at the palace. Before he could so, however, he heard the noise again. Zuko repeated his actions, but still saw nothing. Then he heard the noise by his feet. Glancing down, he saw a strange bat-type lemur thing, which just so happened to be the source of the noise. Zuko relaxed, since he now knew the noise was coming from a harmless animal.

The animal looked at Zuko inquisitively for awhile while Zuko just stared blankly back at it. Then it flew away, disappearing around the corner while chattering incoherently back at Zuko.

Zuko blinked. 'Does that strange creature really want me to follow it?' he wondered. Zuko shrugged and thought, 'Oh what the hell? Why not?'

What Zuko saw when he rounded the corner surprised him. The creature had led him to a hole in the wall, a perfect entrance into the palace. But the creature had seemingly disappeared and was nowhere to be found.

Zuko's curiosity took this opportunity to take control of him, and Zuko stepped into the palace. As soon as he did, a strange feeling passed through him: almost like a feeling of familiarity. 'What's with this place?' Zuko wondered.

Zuko strolled through the palace, trying to soak in as much of it as he could as he walked. When he came down one particular corridor, he stopped in front of a door. He didn't know why he did, but he did. He slowly opened the door to the room and went in.

The room he was standing in appeared to be the servants' quarters. 'Why was I drawn to this room—of all places? Was I a servant here in a past life or something?' But something in his gut already told him the theory was incorrect. Zuko quickly dismissed the topic from his thoughts and started to explore the room.

In the middle of his search, Zuko heard a door opening and closing in the room next to his. 'Is there someone else here?'

Zuko remained very still and on alert as he listened intently as the person in the other room began to sing softly. It was female, he cold tell that much now, and she had an amazingly beautiful, enchanting voice.

It sounded like she was singing some sort of a lullaby. Zuko couldn't help himself. He moved over to the wall and pressed his ear up against it so he could hear better. As he did this, he thought he heard the voice falter for a moment, but then decided it must have been his imagination. The girl continued to sing, but she was singing much softer now. Zuko pressed himself harder against the wall so he'd be able to hear her.

Most unfortunately for him, the walls were old and rotting and were unable to support his weight. The next thing he knew, he was sent crashing to the floor in the room next door. He heard the girl that had been singing scream and he saw her jump back in fright.

As the dust cloud cleared, Zuko was able to get a better look at her. She had tan skin, brown hair, blue eyes and she was wearing a blue outfit. She looked around fifteen years old. 'Blue…'he thought, 'must be part of some water tribe or something,' he concluded.

Apparently, she had gotten a better look at him as well but had gotten a completely different impression of him.

"No way…" he heard her whisper.

'Huh…?'

Then out of nowhere the girl started to go into hysterics and shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"OH MY SPIRITS! IT'S A GHOST! SOMEBODY HELP ME!! I'M BEING ATTACKED BY THE GHOST OF THE LONG-LOST FIRE NATION PRINCE!!!AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

'What the fuck is wrong with her?' Zuko thought while eyeing her strangely, 'And why is she blabbering about all this ghost nonsense? It doesn't make any sense! And—hey wait a minute, I never attacked her!' Zuko thought irritably.

**A/N: So yeah, it was Zuko. No surprise there though! lol Sorry if Katara seemed OOC by freaking out like that…I just thought it'd be interesting. So, anyways, what will happen next? How will Zuko and Katara interact? What about Sokka and Aang? What other characters will appear next chapter? Stay tuned for the upcoming chapter: 'Strangers' lol Plz review!**

**--Amaya-Mizuki**


	6. Strangers

_**Journey to the Past**_

**Chapter 5: Strangers**

**A/N: Sorry for the extremely long wait. I seriously did mean to actually update over the summer, but life got in the way (as it always tends to do). I hope I still have some people out there that are still interested in reading this story, because I know I am still interested in writing it, whenever I get the chance. I also hope that my fellow Zutarians have not all lost hope, even though it doesn't look like it'll ever happen in the series with the way things are going between Aang and Katara right now. Anyways, you'll still find plenty of Zutara goodness here, so please continue reading and reviewing!**

-Sokka-

Sokka heard a loud crash in a distant part of the palace and immediately all of the worst possible scenarios started to form in his head. After the crash there was a moment of silence in which both Aang and Sokka glanced at each other and exchanged confused looks. A moment later, the sound of Katara's piercing screams reached Aang's and Sokka's ears.

Without saying a word to one another, the two simultaneously jumped up and ran off towards the source of Katara's screaming.

'Please, Katara,' Sokka desperately pleaded inside his head, 'just hang on 'til we get there!'

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-Katara-

Suddenly, a loud, ear-splitting screech reached Katara's ears. She quickly glanced around the room, searching for the source. She heard someone else starting to yell unintelligible words very loudly, adding to the terrible noise. It suddenly occurred to Katara that this terrible shrieking noise was coming from her own mouth. Upon realizing this, Katara quickly ceased her screaming.

An eerie silence filled the room.

"Umm…"Katara said. Really, what else was she supposed to say after she had just finished killing her vocal cords?

'Hmm…'she thought, 'maybe I over-reacted a bit…?'

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-Zuko-

This strange girl's obnoxious screaming and shouting and shrieking was ceasing to amuse Zuko.

'Can't she just shut-up?'

The girl kept on screaming.

'Spirits, please make her shut-up.'

Nothing changed. The girl continued to scream.

'Please shut-up.'

Still nothing.

'Shut-up.'

The girl was shouting even impossibly louder now.

"GOD, WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY?!" Zuko bellowed, drowning out her already deafening screams.

Surprisingly, the girl stopped. An awkward silence filled the room.

"Umm…" the girl said.

Zuko decided to resume screaming.

"I'M NOT A GHOST AND I DIDN'T EVEN ATTACK YOU SO STOP SCREAMING ALREADY!!!"

"I have stopped," the girl informed him coolly.

Zuko's face dropped and he crossed his arms over his chest and stared determinedly at the ground.

"Whatever…" he muttered.

Another awkward silence took this opportunity to fill the room.

"So…um, hi," the girl said uncomfortably, "Uh, I'm Katara. And you are…?"

Zuko glanced up at her before quickly returning his gaze to the floor. How in the world was he supposed to explain this to a perfect stranger? 'Besides I shouldn't have to explain myself to a lowlife peasant like her,' he thought savagely.

However, Zuko could see no other solution, so he introduced himself hesitantly.

"Well…this is gonna sound kinda strange, but…I don't know my name. I was found when I was seven years old, just wandering around…didn't have a clue as to who I was…"

"Oh…well, uh, is there at least a name that you go by? Something people call you?" Katara struggled to ask.

Zuko grimaced. "Most people call me…Zuko," he said.

Katara's eyes widened. "_Zuko??_ As in _**Prince**_ Zuko?! The lost prince of the fire nation?!" she exclaimed.

Zuko groaned inwardly. It looked like he was going to have to explain the whole thing after all.

"Look, it's not like that," he said, "the…other kids weren't being serious when they called me that. They, uh, used it in a disrespectful manner," Zuko tried to finish maturely.

"Disrespectful manner??" Katara asked mockingly, "You mean like teasing or bullying?"

"I was not bullied!" Zuko shouted at her.

Katara started in surprise, but held her ground. She fought back the urge to yell back at him and instead folded her arms and quirked her eyebrow at him knowingly.

"Oh really?" she said coolly.

Zuko gritted his teeth. Her completely cool and nonchalant demeanor infuriated Zuko. It made him want to wipe that smirk right off her face. However, he knew, and she knew, that she had him pinned. She had already won.

Zuko unclenched his teeth and drew in a deep breath to calm himself. He then exhaled through his nose, steam coming out of his nostrils. Katara's eyes widened.

"Fine. You win. But so what if I was bullied? Doesn't mean I couldn't take a simple peasant like you," then Zuko finally noticed the odd look Katara was giving him, "What?!" he asked impatiently, "Why are you starting at me like that?"

"You're a _firebender_," Katara said, still entranced.

"Yeah, so?" he spat.

Zuko's rude behavior seemed to snap Katara out of her daze as she tartly shot back, "_So,_ firebenders are rare nowadays. Most of the really powerful firebenders were a part of the royal family and the royal family was killed several years ago."

Zuko remained impassive.

"Well, except for the possibility of the sole-surviving Fire Nation prince," she stated matter-of-factly, "But we're not even positive if he's still alive or not."

"I hope for our sake that he is though," she muttered to herself, but Zuko heard her.

"Why?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"_Why?"_ he repeated, "Why do you care so much about whether or not this Fire Nation prince is alive?"

"Because," Katara said exasperatedly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "If he _is_ alive, then the Fire Nation would have an heir to the throne, someone to turn this nation back around, and to bring peace and harmony back to the world again. If he doesn't, then I don't know that the Fire Nation will ever truly be able to restore itself."

Zuko snorted, "But the former Fire Lord's son??" he asked disbelievingly, "The son of the one who led the Fire Nation into the current state it's in right now? You really think _he_ would bring back peace??"

Katara's eyes flashed menacingly, "Yes! As a matter of fact, I do! The Fire Nation prince wasn't _just _former Fire Lord Ozai's son, he was also General Iroh's nephew! He was kind and caring and sweet! He was much more fitting to bring peace back to the world than you would ever be, that's for sure!"

Zuko took offense to this insult, "Oh yeah? And how do you know all this exactly? Hmm??"

"I met him!!" Katara shouted while getting up in his face.

To this, Zuko had nothing to say. As the silence stretched on between them, Katara slowly cooled down as Zuko desperately tried to process this piece of information.

While the two of them were standing there, blankly staring at each other, Sokka and Aang burst into the room. Sokka was panting while Aang seemed unfazed. Zuko and Katara sprang apart. They hadn't been doing anything, but to someone unsuspecting they might have made the wrong assumption. Sokka was one of these people.

"You…" Sokka gasped while pointing at Zuko accusingly, "What did you do to my sister?!" Sokka yelled while trying (and failing) to look menacing.

Zuko replied by giving him a withering look, "I didn't do anything to her," he replied smoothly.

"Liar!" Aang cut-in, "We heard Katara screaming! Now tell us, what exactly did you do to her!?"

"Aang, calm down. He didn't do anything to me. He just startled me and I over-reacted. That's all," Katara said. She didn't know why she was defending Zuko, but she did suppose she owed him it after making false accusations of him. It was probably her fault they got off on the wrong foot anyways.

"Yeah right! Like I'm honestly gonna buy that!" Sokka said while prodding Zuko in the chest, "There's no way I'm gonna let you off that easy—"

Sokka stopped in the middle of his sentence as a strange look came over his face. It looked almost as if he had suddenly seen Zuko in a whole new light.

"Hey, um, how old are you?" Sokka asked.

"Seventeen," Zuko replied while giving Sokka a suspicious glare.

Sokka's eyes widened, _"Really?"_ he said, "And where were you born?"

Zuko's eyes narrowed, "I assume somewhere in the Fire Nation."

"Sokka—" Katara started to worn him.

"Interesting," Sokka said, ignoring her, "Can you firebend?"

"Of course," Zuko replied shortly.

"Sokka—" Katara tried again.

Sokka interrupted her, "And what were your parents' names?"

At this question Zuko's temper immediately shot up, "I don't see where that's any of your business!" he snapped.

Before Sokka could retort, Katara cut-in, sensing danger, "He can't remember," she blurted out.

Sokka's eyes widened while Zuko's anger seemed to shift towards Katara. She only hoped she hadn't angered him enough to the point where he used his firebending powers on her.

"_Perfect,"_ Sokka muttered under his breath while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Anyways, let's start over. I'm Sokka, this is Aang, and you've already met my sister Katara," Sokka said while pointing to each of them in turn and shaking Zuko's hand vigorously, "So what's your name? And did you know you look an _awful_ lot like the Fire Nation prince?"

Zuko could feel his blood boiling, so Katara answered for him once again, "_He can't remember!_" she reminded him impatiently, "But he's _called_ Zuko."

"_Really??_" Sokka said. Things seemed to be getting better for him by the second. He pulled a pocket-picture of the young Fire Nation prince out of his bag and showed it to Zuko, "_This_ is the Fire Nation prince," Zuko's eyes widened, "And _you_ look exactly like an older version of the prince. Except for that scar of course," Sokka added.

Zuko self-conciously put a hand up to his scar. "What are you getting at?" he hissed.

"Woah, no need to sound so hostile," Sokka said while putting his hands up defensively, "My point _is_, we're looking for the Fire Nation prince and we plan to return him to his uncle in Ba Sing Se. We've interviewed many people, but not one of them looked as much like the prince as you do," Sokka explained.

"Why are you looking for the prince in the first place?" Zuko asked.

"For the same reason everyone else is," Sokka replied before Katara or Aang could respond, "money."

Zuko's face darkened, "I see."

"But that doesn't mean you couldn't really be the Fire Nation prince! There's still a chance you might be! You do fit all the requirements, after all," Katara tried to console him.

"I don't care what your intentions are," Zuko said coldly, "So you want me to play the part of the Fire Nation prince? What's in it for me?"

"Money," Sokka answered, "And you'd get to live like royalty if you convince the General that you're really the prince."

"I don't care for wealth or luxury," Zuko stated, "I can get by fine on my own. All I care about is getting to Ba Sing Se so I can discover the truth about my past."

"Well that works too, because that's where we're heading anyways," Aang piped-up, "If you came with us, then you could get to Ba Sing Se and look for your family."

"Not to mention, there's still the chance that the Fire Nation royal family might be _your_ family," Katara added.

Zuko weighed his options in front of him. At least this way he wouldn't have to worry about getting travel papers and passports. So it was worth a shot, right?

"Fine, I'll come with you," Zuko finally said, "Even though I really don't think I'm the prince."

"Nah! That's okay! Just leave it all up to us, we'll teach you everything you need to know about acting like a prince!" Sokka said while slinging his arm around Zuko and leading him out of the palace, Aang following close behind them.

Katara stood still for a moment with her arms crossed against her chest and a small frown gracing her face. She really didn't like the feel of where this was going.

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**A/N: That's it for chapter five. Next chapter we're going to introduce some new characters and get into more of the actual plot, so stay tuned! I'll try to update as soon as I can, but no guarantees.**


	7. A Mysterious Figure&A Sinister Plan

_**Journey to the Past**_

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate the feedback! I also wanted to let everyone know that I now require at least 5 reviews per chapter before I update. This does not, however, mean that I will necessarily update as soon as I receive 5 reviews. **_**But**_** I am more **_**likely**_** to update faster the more reviews I get, so keep that in mind, at least.**

**Chapter 6: A Mysterious Figure & A Sinister Plan**

As the foursome left the old palace, a dark figure appeared from their hiding place behind a portrait in the old nursery and scurried into the shadows.

The ominous figure slunk from shadow to shadow, while remaining certain that no one was following them at the same time. But even if there had been someone trying to follow the sinister figure, they would've lost sight of them quickly, what with all the secret passageways, hidden doors and numerous corridors. Not to mention the amazing speed this strange figure was traveling at.

Finally the figure seemed to have reached its destination, judging by the way it slowed down in front of a portrait of the Fire Nation royal family that was tucked safely away in a labyrinth of secret passageways. The figure hurriedly checked their surroundings before knocking five times on picture-Iroh's head and whispering what appeared to be some sort of password or secret code:

"The rightful heir to the throne will rise again."

There were several clicking noises followed by the opening of another corridor behind the painting. It was now apparent that the royal family portrait was actually another cleverly disguised door inside of the castle. The ominous figure quickly slipped into the corridor and shut the door/portrait behind them. The sound of several clicks confirmed that the portrait had indeed been re-locked.

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-Unknown-

A teenage girl of about sixteen lazed in her comfy chair contently while idly twiddling a piece of dark hair in between her two fingers.

There was a girl dressed in total pink at her feet doing backbends, cartwheels, and other impressive acrobatics, but the girl wasn't paying attention. Her hard-gold eyes were staring intently on her strand of jet-black hair as she tried to wait patiently for the return of her faithful messenger and scout.

"Hey, Azula, watch this!" the girl in pink, more commonly known as Ty Lee, shouted to her friend/leader as she contortioned her body into some grotesque form with an obvious amount of ease. She turned her head to face Azula with a big smile on her face, eagerly searching for her approval.

"That's great Ty Lee," Azula said without even bothering to look up.

Ty Lee sighed as her face dropped and she quickly un-did her body out of the complicated pretzel-form it was currently in.

As soon as Ty Lee finished untangling herself she stood up while stretching out her muscles, the duo heard the sound of several locks clicking signaled that the secret door had been opened. Azula and Ty Lee both looked up expectantly to see a dark-hooded figure walk in.

"Welcome back, Mai," Azula said with a small, evil smile playing at her lips.

"Hi Mai!" Ty Lee greeted enthusiastically.

"Hey," Mai responded while throwing back her hood and approaching the two of them.

"So? What news?" Azula asked expectantly.

"Well, people keep going on about this rumor that the prince, Zuko, might still be alive," Mai said.

"Those pathetic fools," Azula sneered, "They just want to believe that because of the state the Fire Nation is in right now."

"There's more though. The rumors have reached your uncle, who's currently living in Ba Sing Se, and he's giving the person who can find him a large reward."

"So, as a result," Mai continued, "Of course there are many people trying to find your brother. Most of them just pick up some Fire Nation prince look-a-like though and train him to behave like royalty. Everyone's just in it for the money really."

"But what happens after they train the guys to act like a prince? I mean what do the _do?_" Ty Lee asked her.

"Apparently your uncle has a friend living in Ba Sing Se who's an earth-bending master. Everyone calls her, 'The Blind Bandit.' Rumor has it that she can tell if you're lying by the vibrations in the earth. She's the one that questions all the so-called 'Prince Zukos' and apparently her abilities make it easier to weed through them quickly."

"Have they found anyone yet?" Ty Lee asked, wide-eyed.

Mai shook her head.

"Those fools," Azula sneered, "They're wasting their time looking for my 'dear' brother. He's been dead for at least ten years by now!"

"True, it definitely would seem that way. However…" Mai said.

"However?" Azula arched an eyebrow an eyebrow.

Mai shrugged indifferently, "As I was walking back here, I saw three people, teenagers, actually, and they were in the old nursery. Apparently, they were searching for your brother too, but by the looks of it, I'd say they'd been pretty unsuccessful. But then they ran into a guy that looked about seventeen years old, and he looked an _awful_ lot like Zuko."

Azula appeared rather bored with the whole matter.

"So?" she snapped, "There must be tons of others that look like him. Black hair, golden eyes, and a guy of seventeen aren't exactly uncommon in the Fire Nation you know."

Mai seemed unfazed, "But this guy…he had a _scar_. On his face, around his left eye. A burn mark. You could tell it was from a firebender."

Azula's eyes widened, and for the first time, Azula actually seemed to be remotely interested in what Mai had said.

For a moment, Ty Lee thought she saw something like fear flash in the princess's eyes and she could understand why. 'Zuko is really the only one that could put a stop to Azula's plans,' she thought.

However, the fear in Azula's eyes quickly disappeared and her expression was replaced with a wicked smile playing at her lips and her eyes were sharp and full of loathing. Mai and Ty Lee recognized this look immediately: Azula had a plan.

"Azula…?" Ty Lee asked her friend uncertainly.

"Girls, I think it's time we pay my father another visit," Azula said evilly.

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**A/N: So there you have it. Another chapter to **_**Journey to the Past**_** and some new characters have been introduced too! The next chapter is titled "Awkward Situations." Please review!**


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